Rajshahi Royals captain Andre Russell won the toss and opted to bowl first in their first encounter of Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) on Thursday at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium. 

On the first day, Chattogram Challengers and Cumilla Warriors won their respective games over Sylhet Thunder and Ranger Rangers. 

Dhaka Platoon (Playing XI): Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Jaker Ali (w), Thisara Perera, Shahid Afridi, Laurie Evans, Mashrafe Mortaza (c), Mahedi Hasan, Wahab Riaz, Ariful Haque, Hasan Mahmud

Rajshahi Royals (Playing XI): Liton Das (w), Hazratullah Zazai, Shoaib Malik, Andre Russell (c), Ravi Bopara, Afif Hossain, Alok Kapali, Abu Jayed, Taijul Islam, Farhad Reza, Minhajul Abedin Afridi

Heavy rain has suspended play in the first cricket test between Pakistan and Sri Lanka after only 7.5 overs on the second day.

Resuming on 202-5, Sri Lanka added 20 runs without further loss before rain arrived. Dhananjaya de Silva completed his sixth test half century and was unbeaten on 54.

Niroshan Dickwella survived an appeal for caught behind off 16-year-old fast bowler Naseem Shah and was not out on 15.

Sri Lanka was the last team to play a test match in Pakistan, in a series in 2009 when terrorists attacked the touring team's bus in Lahore. The ambush killed eight people and left several Sri Lankan players and officials injured.

In the interim Pakistan has played its home test matches on neutral territory, mostly in the United Arab Emirates.

END/AP/UNB/TZ

Cumilla Warriors beat Rangpur Rangers by 105 runs as Dasun Shanaka shone with a 23-ball fifty in Bangabandhu Bangladesh Premier League at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

The Warriors won the toss and opted to bat first. They lost the first wicket in the very first ball of the match when Mohammad Nabi bowled Yasir Ali for a duck.

However, Soumya Sarkar and Bhanuka Rajapaksa added 42 runs in the second wicket stand to control the initial damage for the Warriors.

Soumya fell for 26 off 18 with four fours and one six while Rajapaksa posted 15.

However, the highlight of their innings was the riveting batting of Shanaka. He smashed Mustafizur Rahman for four consecutive sixes in the 19th over that helped Warriors post a challenging total. Shanaka remained unbeaten on 75 off 31 with nine sixes and three fours.

Mustafizur, Sanjit Shaha and Lewis Gregory bagged two wickets each for the Rangers.

In reply, Rangers tumbled for 68 all-out in 14 overs. Mohammad Shahzad (13), Mohammad Naim (17) and Mohammad Nabi (11) reached two-digit scores but their efforts were not enough for the Rangers to avoid a defeat.

Al Amin Hossain bagged three wickets conceding 14 runs in three overs while Soumya and Sunzamul Islam scalped two wickets each.

The Warriors will take on Dhaka Platoon in their next game on December 13 at 7pm while the Rangers will face Chattogram Challengers on December 14 at 1:30pm.

Dhaka Assets earned a nine-run victory over old horse Gulshan Youth Club in the Dhaka First Division Women’s Cricket League at POMG on Wednesday.

Sent into bat first, Dhaka Assets were all out for 149 runs in 39.1 overs.

Afia Humaira (28), Sagorika Akter (26) and Monika Akter (22) were the main contributors for Dhaka Assets.
 
Lucky Khatun grabbed three wickets for 24 runs while Tanjila Akter and Kulsuma Akter took two wickets each conceding 17 and 22 runs respectively.

In reply, Gulshan Youth Club were all out for 140 runs in 37.1 overs.

Masuma Khatun (19), Tanjila Akter (18), Riya Akter (16), Kulsuma Akter (16) were the main scorers for Gulshan Youth Club.

Hamza Ara picked up three wickets for 46 runs while Afia Humaira claimed two for 19 runs.     

Later, Afia Humaira of Dhaka Assets was adjudged player of the match.     

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) might be in a happy mood as they are hosting the new season of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) at their own, but former national skipper Mushfiqur Rahim was not happy over the payment disparity in the BPL T20 league.

Mushfiqur will get 50 lakh BDT as a player of A plus-category. But the foreign players on the same category will get BDT 84 lakh in this season of BPL. Mushfiqur said this is embarrassing for the local players.

“If you see the players like Tamim (Iqbal), Shakib (Al Hasan)- we play only one T20 league in a year and get less remuneration than the foreign cricketers. It is a discredit for Bangladesh cricket,” Mushfiqur told the media during a press conference at Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium on Wednesday.

Like the A-plus category, the players from other categories also get less payment than their foreign teammates. Mushfiqur said this disparity should not continue in future.

The wicketkeeper-batsman also expressed his discontent about categorising the players without any sorts of discussion. The veteran batsman believes, the players who perform better over the years deserve a better grade in BPL draft.

“Look at the players like Taijul Islam or Shaiful Islam, they were outstanding during the last year. But in players’ draft, they are not in the A-plus or in a higher category. I think the authority should see these things,” Mushfiqur added.

Mushfiqur is set to lead Khulna Tigers in the ongoing BPL. The Khulna Tigers will take to the field for the first time in the BPL on Thursday against Chattogram Challengers, who won the event opener against Sylhet Thunder by five wickets.